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Mastering Two Circular Needles

Interesting fact about me: Until 3 years ago I hated circular needles. Why you may ask? Well, I was (and still am) an avid hat knitter and I hated switching from circular needles to double pointed needles (DPNs). So I either knitted using straight needles and seamed the hat together or I used DPNs. Then magic loop came into my life. Oh, magic loop how I love you. I only had to carry one set of needles AND I could sometimes knit two items at a time. Perfection! Since that time, I pretty much knit with circular needles no matter what I am working on.

The one thing that I had not tried was knitting with two circulars at the same time in the round. Last week, I decided to give it a try. This method is a little tricky at first…especially if you are used to magic loop. You have to remember to use the far side needle of the SAME circular for each side. Sound confusing? Check out this video.

So what did I make? Some fingerless gloves using a Staghorn Cable. I have made gloves like this before and I wanted to work up a trial pair for a pattern I am writing. Only thing…I can’t decide what I should do with the thumb hole.

What do you think? Add a ribbed portion (left glove) or leave the thumb hole as is (right glove)?

See, me? I hate DPNs with a passion. I’ll happily knit in the round on 2 circulars any time. Magic loop is okay, but the cast on for that always gets me and makes me a little less fond of it. To each their own 😉

As for the gloves… between the two you’ve done, I’d pick the right one because it looks cleaner. The way the thumb is done on the left leaves it looking clunky. Maybe try a different thumb gusset, see how that works out? The cable’s beautiful and definitely takes the stage (as it should), so perhaps something a little less visually in you face as the ribbing?

I switched to two circular needles last year and I’m in love! I was making a pair of half finger gloves and I wanted to make sure I didn’t get the fingers twisted. By putting the top of the glove on one needle and the bottom on another it was so easy. After that I was hooked.

Hooray for trying new ways to do the same thing! I spent about 18 years or so making sure I had a) the right length circular needles from 16″ up b) the right sizes of all the dpns c) all the sizes for straight needles. I switched to the dpns on all the hats, made socks on dpns, went up and down sizes on circs as increasing and decreasing required. Then I discovered interchangeable needle tips, figured out that you can knit flat on the same circular needles you use to knit in the round, and finally the magic loop. Oddly, I have no problems with my stitches stretching out at that point when you have to switch from one half to the other on the magic loop so I’m sticking to it for now. I now start my socks on a mini circ and finish the toes on the magic loop. I feel like I was duped when I started knitting but I guess I’ll enjoy the new skills learned, right?